February 11, 2025
There is no Execulative Branch
By John M. Grondelski
A tweet on X announced a new billboard on I-95 that proclaims “There Is No 4th Branch of Government Called ‘Elon Musk!’”
https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/1888328626308894805No, there isn’t. Neither, however, is a fourth branch of government that I bet the tweeter likes: the Execulative.
What is the “execulative” branch? It is a hybrid that puts an office or an officer into the executive branch but then pretends he cannot be fired without legislative (i.e., Congressional) assent. Take, for example, the inspectors general (IG) that President Trump dismissed. It’s claimed his action was “illegal” because Congress passed a law that says IGs can’t be fired without telling Congress why.
As National Review notes, even Congress doesn’t quite believe its bluster. Yes, Congress passed that law but attached no penalties to its “violation.” So, other than an Elizabeth Warren Nastygram, even if the president fired those IGs, what’s going to happen to him?
For those who are actually interested in constitutional crises and U.S. history (a subject only selectively taught in most American schools) Congress’s first foray into execulative regulation of Executive Branch employees was the Tenure of Office Act of 1867.
Andrew Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without congressional approval, in violation of the Tenure of Office Act. Congress said “put him back!” Johnson refused and became the first president to be impeached. Removal failed by one vote. In Profiles in Courage John F. Kennedy listed Edmund Ross, the Kansas Republican whose vote likely saved Johnson, for protecting American constitutionalism. He protected it by protecting separation of powers though, no doubt, Johnson (and Kennedy’s) fellow Democrats would likely today misrepresent Ross as “enhancing Executive tyranny.” Which is it?
more
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/there_is_no_execulative_branch.html
